While I agree with you that punishment is necessary for such an action, I think that the controversy is about him being charged with murder when, as far as I know, nobody should have been charged for this. Every teenager make mistakes at some point. He was a dumbass to think that this would be a good idea, but charging him for a crime (my opinion) he did not commit is not fair. He did not want anyone to die, and everyone involved was conscious of the risks and were willing to go, they just needed money and even tried to make sure that the man was not home (they were not smart about that either). I don't excuse them at all. An incredibly stupid idea, but a wrong judgement I think.

Great read. I've also heard that a good example (different type than the article) is to close one of your eyes and keep the other one open. You don't see darkness in your closed eye, just nothing. Empty.

This is very interesting, although I'm still skeptical about how reliable it will be. A lot of company promised a rapid charge over the past decade and we haven't seen anything worthwhile yet, as far as I know.